The intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1887-1891, 1887-11-12

The Father of his Country
Stands above that shut-in sea
A glorious symbol to the world =
Of all LnaI ,reaL ana free:
And to-day Virginia ma, ches him
And matches him with Lee.
ii.
Who shall blame the social order
Which gave us men as great As these:
Who condemn the soil Of th' forest
Which brings forth gigantic trees:
Who presume to doubt that Providence
Shapes out our destinies!
Foreordained. and long maturing.
Came the famous men OF old;
In the dark mines deep were driven
Down the shafts to reach the gold,
Aud the story il far longer
Than the histories have told,
From Bacon down to Washington
The generations passed,
Great events and moving causes
Were in serted order massed;
BerkeIey well was first confronted,
Better George the King at last!
From the times Of that stern ruler
TO our own familiar days,
Long the pathway we have trodden;
Hard and deyiou, were It's WAYS,
TIL at last there cane the second
MightIer revolutions blaze;
Till at last there broke the tempest,
Like a C clone on the sea,
When the lightnings blaled and daZzied,
And the thunders were set Tree
And riding on that whirlwind came
Msjestic Robert Lee.
Who-agaln l ask the question
Who may challenge in debate
With any show OF truthfulnesS,
Our former social state
Which brought forth more than heroes
In their lives supreme1y great:
Not Peter the wild crusader,
When bent upon his knee;
Not Arthur and his belted knights
la the Poets song could be,
More earnest than those Southern men
Who followed Robert Lee.
They thought that they We're right and this
Was hammered into those
Who held that crest all drenched In blood
Where the Bloody Angle" rose.
As for all else it passes by
As the idle wind that blows.
Then stand up, oh my cOuntrymen!
And unto God give thanks,
On mountains, and on hiilsides
And by slOplng river banks
Thank God that you were worthy
OF the grant confederate ranks;
That you who came from uplands
And from beside the >ea.
Filled with love OF Old Virgins
And the teachings of the free,
May boast in sight of all men
That YOU followed Robert Lee.
Peace has come. God give His blessing
On the fact and on the name
The South speaks no lnvectlye
nd oh word OF blame.
But we call all men to witness
That we stand up without shame.
| Nav! Send it forth to all the world
| Tha. we stand up here with pride,
" ith love for our living comrades,
And with praise for those who dled;
| And in this manly frame OF mind
Till death we will abide.
| God and our cOnsciences alone
| Give measures OF right aud wrong.
| The race may fall unto the swift
| And the battle to the strong;
But the truth will shine In history
AID blossom into song.
Human grief full oft by glory
Is assuaged and disappears
When its requiem swells with music
Like the shock OF shields anu spears,
And its passion rs too full OF pride
| To leave a space for tears.
And hence to-day, my couLtrymen,
We come, with undimmed eyes,
In homage of the hero Lee,
The good, the great, The wise.
. And al his name our hearts VIII leap
Til his last old soldier dies.
Ask me, il SO you please, to paint
8 SIOrmwlnds upon the sea;
e Tell me TO weigh great Cheoi.s-
Il Set volcanic forces free;
But bid me rot, my cOuntrymen,
!. TO picture Robert Lee!
As Saul, bound for Damascus fair,
Was struck blind by sudden light.
So my eyes are pained and dazZled
By radiance pure and white
- Shot back by the FURNISHED armnf
OF that glOry-beited knight.
His was all the Norman polish
And sObriety of grace;
2. All the Goth's msjestic figure;
All the Romans noble face
And he stood the tall eXemp!ar
Ofa grand historic race;
Baronial were his acres where
PotOmac's waters run;
High his lineage, and his baZon
Was by cunning heralds done;
Hut better still he might have said
OF his works" he was the 'son."
Truth walked Dcslue MIN always
From his chidhood's early years;
Honor followed as his shadow.
ValOr li"htened all his cares;
And he rOde-that grand Nirginlan-
Last of all the cavaliers.
As soldier we all knew him,
Great in action and repose.
Saw how his genius klndled
And his mighty spirit rose
When the TOUR quarters of the globe
Encompassed hun with foes.
But he and his grew Drawer
As the danger grew more rife,
Avaricious they OF glory,
But most prOdigal of iiie,
And the Army of Virginia
Was the Atlas of the strife.
As his troubles gathered round him,
Thick as waves that beat the shore,
Atra Cura rode behind him,
FaDine's shadow filed his door;
still he wrought deeds no mortal man
Had ever wrought before.